Kimmy Goes Roller Skating
- first a few thoughts about season 1
- loved it for the most part, mostly for the culture shock aspect of the show
- as much as I loved many things about the last couple episodes and the trial in Kimmy's hometown I thought it was weird that they seemed to abandon (temporarily?) the cornerstone of the show (NYC) in the season finale
- Jon Hamm = great; didn't realize he could be so funny
- not wowed by the season 2 opener, it didn't grab me like the season 1 opener did; no big laughs for me; undecided as to whether to continue watching or not
- at least the show is back in NYC, for the most part
- Jackie is still with her parents, I can't remember exactly where they live
- Kimmy goes roller skating with Lillian and Lillian's date and Dong, who is now married; Kimmy and Dong are still attracted to one another; there's a little bit of smooching and guilt afterwards
- this episode is probably, hopefully setting things up but it is hard for me to see where it is going from here; maybe she and Dong will be back together again by the end of the season or at least closer to being back together
- I wonder if this show is morphing from comedy to dramedy
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Samurai Jack 2.01
XIV: Jack Learns to Jump Good
- Jack teaches a wild man and a tribe of white monkeys to defend themselves against a tribe of pink apes that have been bullying them and stealing their food; in exchange for his help they teach him to jump good
- additionally there are a pair of scenes which bookend Jack's forest adventure; in both of them he battles Aku; in the first one Jack loses to Aku who swoops in and steals a magic mirror/doorway to the past; in the second one Jack demonstrates his ability to jump good but the episode ends before the battle does
- there are a few wordless sequences all of which are very nicely animated: Jack fighting back against the apes; Jack training the monkeys and helping them prepare for their next battle with the apes; the monkeys training Jack to jump good; the monkeys using their training to repel the apes
- when the wild man is tells the story of how he came to live with the monkeys a more muted color palette is used quite effectively to visually inform and reinforce the fact that this is a flashback
- one interpretation of the bulk of this episode or at least the final scene is that it is a dream; why? because this is the only episode where Jack demonstrates this ability to jump good, so good that it looks like he is flying; also the fact that the second encounter with Aku looks just like the first one with the exception that Jack knows how to jump good in the second one leads me to wonder how to explain the similarity between the opening and closing and arrive at this possible conclusion; of course I might just be overthinking this episode
- Jack teaches a wild man and a tribe of white monkeys to defend themselves against a tribe of pink apes that have been bullying them and stealing their food; in exchange for his help they teach him to jump good
- additionally there are a pair of scenes which bookend Jack's forest adventure; in both of them he battles Aku; in the first one Jack loses to Aku who swoops in and steals a magic mirror/doorway to the past; in the second one Jack demonstrates his ability to jump good but the episode ends before the battle does
- there are a few wordless sequences all of which are very nicely animated: Jack fighting back against the apes; Jack training the monkeys and helping them prepare for their next battle with the apes; the monkeys training Jack to jump good; the monkeys using their training to repel the apes
- when the wild man is tells the story of how he came to live with the monkeys a more muted color palette is used quite effectively to visually inform and reinforce the fact that this is a flashback
- one interpretation of the bulk of this episode or at least the final scene is that it is a dream; why? because this is the only episode where Jack demonstrates this ability to jump good, so good that it looks like he is flying; also the fact that the second encounter with Aku looks just like the first one with the exception that Jack knows how to jump good in the second one leads me to wonder how to explain the similarity between the opening and closing and arrive at this possible conclusion; of course I might just be overthinking this episode
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Mad Men 7.08
Severance
- as usual the focus or spotlight seems to split between Don and Peggy but they don't have much in the way of interactions; to a lesser degree Ken and Joan also get brief spotlights
- Don is lost in the past once again; first he encounters a waitress at a diner who seems to familiar to him but he doesn't know why; he goes back to see her a couple times but she doesn't shed any light on his quandary
- Don has a dream about Rachel Katz, his girlfriend who owned the department store from Season 1; after making some inquiries he discovers she just passed away less than a week ago; he goes to a service for her but he gets a frosty reception from her sister
- Peggy turns down a blind date only to change her mind after she gets into an argument with Joan; she goes out with the guy and almost goes to Paris (her idea) with him, on a whim, but she can't find her passport; by the time she does find it (the next day) she questions her own judgment
- Ken gets fired; at first it pisses him off but then he sees the silver lining and gives up on putting up a fight; by the end of the episode Ken's future is looking much brighter
- Joan (and Peggy) have a meeting with some representatives from McCann Erickson who don't take them seriously; in particular they single Joan out for some very sexist comments; Peggy just brushes off their juvenile behavior but it isn't as easy for Joan to do the same; Peggy has trouble understanding Joan's indignation which leads to some pointed comments from Peggy about the way Joan dresses and presents herself which leads to a riff between the two; while Peggy goes on a date, Joan goes shopping for clothes
- it feels a little weird jumping back into the final half season of this series, even though I loved this episode; not many touching moments but I'm still loving this show and am sad that I have just 6 episodes left
- I noticed in the credits that Peggy's date was played by Devon Gummersall who played Brian Krakow on My So Called Life; I did not recognize him or think he looked or sounded familiar
- as usual the focus or spotlight seems to split between Don and Peggy but they don't have much in the way of interactions; to a lesser degree Ken and Joan also get brief spotlights
- Don is lost in the past once again; first he encounters a waitress at a diner who seems to familiar to him but he doesn't know why; he goes back to see her a couple times but she doesn't shed any light on his quandary
- Don has a dream about Rachel Katz, his girlfriend who owned the department store from Season 1; after making some inquiries he discovers she just passed away less than a week ago; he goes to a service for her but he gets a frosty reception from her sister
- Peggy turns down a blind date only to change her mind after she gets into an argument with Joan; she goes out with the guy and almost goes to Paris (her idea) with him, on a whim, but she can't find her passport; by the time she does find it (the next day) she questions her own judgment
- Ken gets fired; at first it pisses him off but then he sees the silver lining and gives up on putting up a fight; by the end of the episode Ken's future is looking much brighter
- Joan (and Peggy) have a meeting with some representatives from McCann Erickson who don't take them seriously; in particular they single Joan out for some very sexist comments; Peggy just brushes off their juvenile behavior but it isn't as easy for Joan to do the same; Peggy has trouble understanding Joan's indignation which leads to some pointed comments from Peggy about the way Joan dresses and presents herself which leads to a riff between the two; while Peggy goes on a date, Joan goes shopping for clothes
- it feels a little weird jumping back into the final half season of this series, even though I loved this episode; not many touching moments but I'm still loving this show and am sad that I have just 6 episodes left
- I noticed in the credits that Peggy's date was played by Devon Gummersall who played Brian Krakow on My So Called Life; I did not recognize him or think he looked or sounded familiar
Monday, July 11, 2016
Casual 2.04
Big Green Egg
- Laura hangs out with Aubrey
- Valerie goes to a game night hosted by Jennifer, has fun and is a big hit
- Alex hosts a barbecue for his business partner and the three partners at the VC firm; things go south quickly when one of the VC partners shows up with a date, who is one of Alex's ex-girlfriends; it didn't end well between Alex and this ex which makes Alex uneasy for the rest of the night
- I didn't care for the way Alex responded to the security guard; the guard was just doing his job but Alex wasn't in the mood to play by the rules even though in the end he did; I think Alex has issues that haven't been revealed yet or maybe that have but are currently lurking below the surface; it is just a matter of time (hopefully) before things come to a head for him
- I guess the title refers to the grill that Alex purchases; its a silly kind of title since the grill doesn't play a significant role, which makes me wonder if it was paid-for product placement
- lots of character work without a lot of plot development; I approve
- not a great episode but it is a solidly good one in my book and it is the sort that makes me curious to see how things unfold from here
- Laura hangs out with Aubrey
- Valerie goes to a game night hosted by Jennifer, has fun and is a big hit
- Alex hosts a barbecue for his business partner and the three partners at the VC firm; things go south quickly when one of the VC partners shows up with a date, who is one of Alex's ex-girlfriends; it didn't end well between Alex and this ex which makes Alex uneasy for the rest of the night
- I didn't care for the way Alex responded to the security guard; the guard was just doing his job but Alex wasn't in the mood to play by the rules even though in the end he did; I think Alex has issues that haven't been revealed yet or maybe that have but are currently lurking below the surface; it is just a matter of time (hopefully) before things come to a head for him
- I guess the title refers to the grill that Alex purchases; its a silly kind of title since the grill doesn't play a significant role, which makes me wonder if it was paid-for product placement
- lots of character work without a lot of plot development; I approve
- not a great episode but it is a solidly good one in my book and it is the sort that makes me curious to see how things unfold from here
Sunday, July 10, 2016
UnREAL 1.02
Relapse
- Rachel has to convince Anna (one of the contestants) to return to Everlasting (the show) after her father has died; this didn't seem to carry as much emotional weight as I thought it would or should; maybe that's because Rachel's mind was elsewhere, specifically on her laptop that her ex-roommate was threatening to sell on Craig's List
- Quinn has to put up with learning that Chet's wife is pregnant; it looks like I was right about their relationship being more complicated than it initially seemed to be to my eyes
- for the most part the episode revolves around turning one of the remaining contestants into the show's villain; Quinn had a villain picked out in episode 1 but Rachel talked Adam into not asking her to stay on the show; there's lots of manipulation by the show's crew to egg contestants into doing something over the top with varying degrees of success
- I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this episode; I kept hoping it would grab me like the first one did but for the most part it didn't; I wasn't overwhelmingly disappointed, I just wasn't wowed
- there were some laughs in this episode but nothing that caught me by surprise; I think I was ready and hoping for more than I got
****
- I have to wonder about Rachel's actions towards the end of the episode; she had the time to prevent the sex tape of her and her ex from getting sent to the rest of the crew but she didn't work very hard to prevent it from happening; did she let it happen, on purpose? I think she might have; there will probably be consequences; Is she trying to ruin her ex's current relationship? possibly; does she want him back? not so sure about that, I think Rachel enjoys having power over him and this is one way for her to influence his current relationship with his fiancee
- Rachel has to convince Anna (one of the contestants) to return to Everlasting (the show) after her father has died; this didn't seem to carry as much emotional weight as I thought it would or should; maybe that's because Rachel's mind was elsewhere, specifically on her laptop that her ex-roommate was threatening to sell on Craig's List
- Quinn has to put up with learning that Chet's wife is pregnant; it looks like I was right about their relationship being more complicated than it initially seemed to be to my eyes
- for the most part the episode revolves around turning one of the remaining contestants into the show's villain; Quinn had a villain picked out in episode 1 but Rachel talked Adam into not asking her to stay on the show; there's lots of manipulation by the show's crew to egg contestants into doing something over the top with varying degrees of success
- I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this episode; I kept hoping it would grab me like the first one did but for the most part it didn't; I wasn't overwhelmingly disappointed, I just wasn't wowed
- there were some laughs in this episode but nothing that caught me by surprise; I think I was ready and hoping for more than I got
****
- I have to wonder about Rachel's actions towards the end of the episode; she had the time to prevent the sex tape of her and her ex from getting sent to the rest of the crew but she didn't work very hard to prevent it from happening; did she let it happen, on purpose? I think she might have; there will probably be consequences; Is she trying to ruin her ex's current relationship? possibly; does she want him back? not so sure about that, I think Rachel enjoys having power over him and this is one way for her to influence his current relationship with his fiancee
Teen Titans 1.12
Apprentice: Part 2
- much more fun than the first one
- considerably more humor in the second half of this two-part story
- there seemed to be a lot more focus on the others than there was in part one
- I hate it when Robin gets all moody and judgmental but there was very little of that here
- not everything made sense, for instance Robin getting infected with whatever Slade infected the other Titans with just because he tore apart one of Slade's machines
- on the whole a much more heartfelt episode
- loved the moment when Beast Boy explained his theories of what was wrong with Robin; the visualizations of his theories looked like something from EC Comics
- there were references to Batman (bats, Wayne Enterprises) even though he did not appear in the episode
- much more fun than the first one
- considerably more humor in the second half of this two-part story
- there seemed to be a lot more focus on the others than there was in part one
- I hate it when Robin gets all moody and judgmental but there was very little of that here
- not everything made sense, for instance Robin getting infected with whatever Slade infected the other Titans with just because he tore apart one of Slade's machines
- on the whole a much more heartfelt episode
- loved the moment when Beast Boy explained his theories of what was wrong with Robin; the visualizations of his theories looked like something from EC Comics
- there were references to Batman (bats, Wayne Enterprises) even though he did not appear in the episode
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Arrow 2.08
The Scientist
- first appearance of Barry Allen on Arrow
- also seems to be the introduction of superpowers on Arrow; up to this point all the people on the show with super abilities seem to have tech providing those abilities (I'm thinking of Deadshot)
- Barry flirts with Felicity or maybe it would be more accurate to say that she flirts with him
- Barry has come from Central City to help out with an investigation; he is a crime scene investigator; but it turns out that his boss doesn't even know that he is there
- there are some flashbacks to the island where Ollie and friends (Sarah, Shado, Slade) try to find a cure for Slade, which they eventually do but when they administer it to him it seems to kill him
- meanwhile in the present Ollie is dealing with at least one super-powered bad guy who reminds him of something he saw during his time on the island; Sebastian Blood seems to have a hand in whatever it is that the bad guys are up to
- Barry talks about his mother's death and how his father is in prison for her murder
- Moira deals with Malcolm Merlyn again; he wants Moira to tell Thea that he is her real father; Moira doesn't; she gets him to back off by mentioning Ra's Al Ghul
- the episode ends with Ollie badly injured and Felicity and Diggle revealing to Barry that Ollie is the vigilante because they need his help to make Ollie better
- I'm pretty sure Slade will be back in the next episode filled with awesome powers
- so far no Flash but I think that will change in the next episode
- lots of interesting developments; I am eager to see how things evolve from here; still not a great show but this episode was a lot of fun
- first appearance of Barry Allen on Arrow
- also seems to be the introduction of superpowers on Arrow; up to this point all the people on the show with super abilities seem to have tech providing those abilities (I'm thinking of Deadshot)
- Barry flirts with Felicity or maybe it would be more accurate to say that she flirts with him
- Barry has come from Central City to help out with an investigation; he is a crime scene investigator; but it turns out that his boss doesn't even know that he is there
- there are some flashbacks to the island where Ollie and friends (Sarah, Shado, Slade) try to find a cure for Slade, which they eventually do but when they administer it to him it seems to kill him
- meanwhile in the present Ollie is dealing with at least one super-powered bad guy who reminds him of something he saw during his time on the island; Sebastian Blood seems to have a hand in whatever it is that the bad guys are up to
- Barry talks about his mother's death and how his father is in prison for her murder
- Moira deals with Malcolm Merlyn again; he wants Moira to tell Thea that he is her real father; Moira doesn't; she gets him to back off by mentioning Ra's Al Ghul
- the episode ends with Ollie badly injured and Felicity and Diggle revealing to Barry that Ollie is the vigilante because they need his help to make Ollie better
- I'm pretty sure Slade will be back in the next episode filled with awesome powers
- so far no Flash but I think that will change in the next episode
- lots of interesting developments; I am eager to see how things evolve from here; still not a great show but this episode was a lot of fun
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